The Israel Institute works in partnership with leading academic, research, and cultural institutions to enhance knowledge and study of modern Israel in the United States and around the world. Founded in 2012 as an independent, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C. and Tel Aviv, the Institute supports scholarship, research, and cultural exchanges to build a multi-faceted field of Israel Studies and expand opportunities to explore the diversity and complexity of contemporary Israel.

OUR MISSION

The Israel Institute is dedicated to strengthening the field of Israel Studies in order to promote knowledge and enhance understanding of modern Israel. The Israel Institute works in partnership with universities and think tanks to increase opportunities for the study of Israel and catalyze deeper engagement with the country in the academic, cultural, and policy sectors.

In the United States and around the world, the Israel Institute provides scholars, policy experts, and artists with the resources to study and discuss Israel in a comprehensive and rigorous manner. Through its various programs, the Institute advances exemplary scholarship in a wide range of disciplines that provides in-depth coverage of Israel for students and policymakers while also serving as an access point for new learners to become familiar with the country.

WHY WE EXIST

Israel -- as a prominent member of the global community, a significant ally of the United States, and a frequent topic of news media -- is a complicated yet important country to study. We believe that it is crucial to create and foster quality opportunities for individuals to learn more about the complexity and diversity of modern Israel and its place on the world stage. The Israel Institute provides a space for exploring and engaging with a diverse range of Israel-related topics in order to encourage a comprehensive and multi-faceted understanding of the country among students of Israel, old and new.

Israel offers unusual richness and depth as a field of study.

Israel is a small country with a brief history as a modern state, but it offers unusual richness and depth as a topic of study. The field of Israel Studies is relevant to history, political science, international relations, Jewish Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, economics, anthropology, archaeology, art, and comparative literature, among others. Our vision is to exponentially expand the field of Israel Studies into more classrooms, campuses, and countries, affording new opportunities for new audiences to study and engage with Israel.

WHAT WE DO

In pursuit of our mission, the Israel Institute supports a diverse range of programs and activities that inspire, promote, and support the study of modern Israel at universities and other research and cultural institutions around the world:

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: We place senior experts and emerging scholars at campuses across the globe, where they introduce students, faculty colleagues, and the greater campus community to modern Israel through their courses, research, and guest lectures.

PUBLIC DISCOURSE: We lead and co-host conferences, workshops, and lectures on matters of scholarly interest, current events, and important developments relating to Israel.

ARTS & CULTURE: We sponsor the placement of Israeli artists at universities across the United States and, for the first time ever in 2016, in Europe to showcase the diversity of Israel's vibrant cultural landscape.

Our organization does not participate in advocacy efforts but, rather, aspires to promote a flourishing and expansive field of Israel Studies through the sponsorship of programs designed to support young scholars, faculty exchanges, inter-institutional collaborations, research, and public programming.

FOUNDING

The Israel Institute was founded in 2012 by its president, Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich, in partnership with the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.